


Sinner

by lovebashed



Category: Vikings (TV)
Genre: Angst, Confused Athelstan, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Multi, Twisted and Fluffy Feelings, in which Athelstan tries to adjust to his life changes, slight stockholm syndrome
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-03-12
Updated: 2013-03-12
Packaged: 2017-12-05 03:06:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 513
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/718154
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lovebashed/pseuds/lovebashed
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In which Athelstan tries to adjust to his new life in the North, while remaining true to his convictions. (... Which is especially hard when he has a deliciously hot Viking couple as roommates)</p>
            </blockquote>





	Sinner

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the prompt "it's a sin".

The lascivious way in which Ragnar and Lagertha often looked at Athelstan had first felt unsettling and wrong. When they were being carnal so close to Athelstan's bed that he could feel the vibrations of their voices, Athelstan murmured his prayers a bit louder, letting the words become a continuous drizzle of noise washing over him. His prayers couldn't drown out Ragnar's raspy encouragements or Lagertha's high-pitched moans but nonetheless gave him comfort, molded and realigned his reality into a softer, less terrifying place. 

He would often lie awake at night when the cottage was finally devoid of any sound but the quiet snores escaping Ragnar's throat and feel his body responding to the lingering ghosts of the night's passion. He would press his Gospel against his cheek then and breathe in the sweet scent of paper and the salty ocean that had seeped into the pages during those days at sea, and try to remember what he had been like before the Northmen came.

He had already changed so much. His hair had grown over his scalp and felt silky to the touch. Gyda liked to run her hand over it in a similar way she petted under the lambs' throats, and Ragnar sometimes cupped the crown of his head in his huge palm when he walked past by, laughing at the indignant way in which Athelstan looked at him afterwards. He would sit with Lagertha and Ragnar by the fire for hours, teaching them words in his language that started out as pertaining to Christianity but were quickly transcended by those, which belonged to the secular world. 

Perhaps his greatest sin was to consider the Lothbroks in the same terms as he did his brothers at the monastery, most of whom had died by the Northmens' hands. _Not Ragnar's_ , Athelstan caught himself thinking, because Ragnar wasn't cruel like his brother or his friends, not like Rollo who didn’t hesitate to put a blade through an innocent man’s throat, nor like Floki who seemed to lack any conscience. Ragnar was different, he reasoned to himself, and felt almost grateful to have been chosen by Ragnar to live under his roof. 

And at night when the rain lashed the walls of the cottage and he shook from cold under thin hemstitch bedclothes, he only pressed his cheek harder into his Gospel when the mattress sunk and two sinfully warm bodies settled against him and surrounded him with glowing heat. 

"Hush, now, priest," Ragnar spoke to him, and Athelstan noticed how erratic his breathing had become. "Hush and go to sleep. We will keep you warm."

Lagertha's arm twined around Athelstan's chest and her nose buried into the nape of his neck, and Athelstan couldn't help but think how right it felt to be held so close, and how much he would miss it when morning came. 

He tried to think what prayers he would need to say for the thoughts that crossed his mind, but the snug warmth of two strong bodies made him fall into deep sleep faster than he thought possible.


End file.
